Vehicle of the tricycle or velocipede type



Feb. 8, 1938. M. E. ROE ET AL 2,107,506

VEHICLE OF THE TRICYCLE OR VELOCIPEDE TYPE Filed Aug. 3, 19363-Sheets-S'neet 1 MAYO E. ROE. ArmWILBUR -HENR;;/ZDAMS. Rs.

ATTORNEYS.

Feb. 8, I M, E ROE ET AL VEHICLE OFv THE TRICYCLE OR VELOCIPEDE TYPEFiled Aug. 3, 1936 s Sheets-Sheet 2 MAYO E. Roam FIG. 4. WILBUR HENRYADAMSINVENTORS.

ATTORNEY.

, Feb. 8, 1938. M. E. ROE ET AL 2,107,506

VEHICLE OF THE TRICYCLE OR VELOCIPEDE TYPE Filed Aug. 3, 1956 3Sheets-Sheet 3 N "i m (D I I I 2 LL 1 E I LL x Q i s; 00 Q N "155 MAYOE. ROE,

WWlLBUR-HENRY ADAMSJNVENTORS v 4: 0: BY a 00 m Q ATTORNEYS.

Patented Feb. 8, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE VEHICLE OF THETRICYCLE OR VELOCI- PEDE TYPE Application August 3, 1936, Serial No.94,018

8 Claims.

This invention relates to vehicles of the tricycle or velocipede type.

Among the objects of the invention are to provide:

An improved vehicle of the class referred to;

A vehicle of the class referred to having an improved frame or bodyconstruction;

An improved frame or body construction for vehicles of the classreferred to.

Other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which ourinvention appertains.

Our invention is fully disclosed in the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational perspective View of a velocipede embodyingour invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the velocipede of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a view to a larger scale, substantially full scale, of a partof Fig. 2 with parts broken away and parts in section for clearness;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational View taken from the plane 4-4of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view to an enlarged scale, substantially full size, of apart of the head construction of the vehicle of Fig. 1, the parts beingbroken away and in section to illustrate the interior constructionthereof;

Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of the parts of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken from the plane ll-J! ofFig. 5;

Fig. 8 is a view illustrating a frame or body construction for vehicles,such as that illustrated in Fig. 1, and embodying our invention inmodified form; the view being in perspective and from the same viewpointas that of Fig. 1, other parts of the vehicle being omitted to simplifythe drawings;

Fig. 9 is a top plan view to an enlarged scale, substantially full sizeof some of the parts of Fig. 8, the view being partly in section andpartly broken away and being considered as taken in the direction of thearrow 9 of Fig. 8:

Fig. 10 is a view taken from the plane Ill-I0 of Fig. 9.

Referring to the drawings, we have shown at l the vehicle front wheel,rotatable on bearings on a fork 2 the fork having a castering bearing at3, to be more fully described, and handlebars 4 connected thereto,within reach of a rider on the seat 5 supported on a frame showngenerally at 6, the frame at the rearward portion of the. vehicle beingsupported on rear wheels The parts referred to constitute no essentialpart of our invention and may be variously constructed; except as to theframe 6 and its castering bearing 3 and the connection between the frameand the axles of the wheels 1 wherein our invention resides and whichwill now be described more fully.

The castering bearing referred to generally by the reference character 3comprises in the preferred embodiment a metal tube 8, preferablyrelatively thick walled, having pressed. into opposite ends thereof,bearing bushings 99 provided with finish flanges l0l0 overlapping theends of tube 8; and it is within the bores of the bushings 9-9 that thestem of the fork 2 above referred to has castering bearing.

The frame proper, referred to generally at B in Figsrl. and 2, comprisesa pair of metal tubes l l abutted upon and welded to the tube 8 at theirforward ends, (see also Figs. 5 and 6) the tube 8 being shown in Fig. 6without the bushings 9--9 for clearness. The tubes II-ll extendrearwardly from the tube 8 and diverge from each other as plainly shownin Figs. 2 and 6. A metal bracing member in the form of a gusset [2preferably triangular in form is welded along one edge as at I3 to thetube outer wall 8, extends upwardly between the adjacent tubes HH and iswelded likewise thereto. By this construction the front end portions ofthe tubes ll-Jl, the bearing tube 8, and the brace l2, are allintegrally welded together.

A saddle post socket i4 is formed from a piece of thick Walled metaltubing and opposite sides thereof are grooved as at |5|5, generally tothe radius of the tubing H-H and the tubes H-Jl are laid in the groovesl5--l5 and Welded to the tubing piece l4; and a set screw l6 may beprovided through a Wall of the socket 14 to clamp the saddle post H, seeFig. 1, therein in suitably vertically adjusted position.

A channel element l8 of sheet metal, downwardly open is placed over thestructure thus far. described. The web IQ of the channel rests upon theupper side of the tubes lll I, the flanges 20-20 of the channel liealong the sides of the tubes ll--II and the forward end edges 2I-2l ofthe channel flanges lie upon the side of the tube 8 and are weldedthereto. The channel flanges are also welded for example, as at 22-22,to the tubes ll-H; and the channel flanges 202ll are preferably ofgreater vertical depth adjacent to the tube 8 than at their rearward endportions.

When the vehicle is in use, and the front wheel I rests on the groundand load is applied on the seat 5, forces are developed in the structurethus far described which tend to bend the tube 8 off from the ends ofthe tubes I I I l and which tend to twist with torsional force, theforward ends of the tubes il! 5, and these forces are resisted with themaximum of resistance for the miniofmaterial by the structure abovedescribed; and the channel i8 besides absorbing torsional and bendingforces covers the parts in a manner to render the construction pleasingin appearance.

The tubes H-H diverge rearwardly from the head construction justdescribed and extend rearwardly and downwardly therefrom and at theirlower end portions 23-23 are bent so as to extend forwardly again, thusproviding at about the level of the axis of the rear wheels L-ll,substantially straight horizontal forwardly extending portions 24-24spaced apart transversely.

As shown in 3 and 4, the ends 2fl2 l of the tubes H--I l have insertedinto their ends turned solid metal pieces 2525 supporting opposite endsof a wheel axle 26. The axle preferab-iy has at opposite ends thereofreduced diameter portions 2l21 which are fitted into suitable transversebores in the pieces 25-25 and outwardly of the said pieces has reduceddiameter portions 2828 upon which the wheels 7 or bearings thereof aremounted, the portions 28 having threaded ends 292 for retaining nuts.

Forwardly beyond the axle 26 the pieces 25 are joined by a transversepiece of metal tubing 3d and rearwardly thereof the tubes 1 l! I arejoined by a transverse piece of tubing 3|, the tubing and 3i and theaxle 21 all being preferably of substantially the same diameter anddisposed in substantially a horizontal plane thus providing a platformupon which a rider may stand.

The parts 26, 35, BI and ii-ll just described are joined togetherpreferably by welding to provide smooth rounded joint corners and edgestherebetween as illustrated in the lower half of Fig. 3. The parts 39and 31, as described, also perform the dual function of rendering theframe at the rearward wheel supporting end rigid to maintain the wheelsL4 in forward and rearward alignment.

By the foregoing described construction a rigid but light frame or bodyis provided for vehicles of this class.

In Figs. 8, 9 and 10 is illustrated amodification. In this form theforward head construction 32 may be the same as that more completelydescribed above; the rearwardly extending frame tubes llal la in thisform however do not diverge as much as in the first described form andat their lower ends have forwardly extending portions 24a2='a which aresecured to a generally oval frame 33.

The frame 33 is preferably made from a tube 35 bent into oval form. Anaxle bar 36 extends longitudinally of the frame 33, having reduceddiameter wheel bearing supporting axle portions 31-31. The axle bar 36is preferably secured to the frame 33 by laying the axle portions 31-37in groove 38 in the ends of the oval frame 33 and rigidly joining theaxle bar to the frame by welding as at 39 which welding also restoresthe strength to the tube which was reduced by the the tube from whichthe oval frame 33 is formed,

abut upon and are welded as at M to the outer lateral sides of theportions 2da, 2fia. A connecting piece of tubing 42 is inserted betweenthe portions 24a24a of the frame tube {thus oomleting the ovalconfiguration of the frame and strengthening the attachment of the frameand the frame tube to each other.

The oval 33 and its connected parts provide a rigid grating or platformwhich not only rigidly positions the rear wheels l-l on their axleportions 3'I31 but as in the first above described form provide aplatform upon which a rider may stand while straddling the frame tubes lla-I la.

Our invention is not limited to exact details of construction shown anddescribed. Two forms of frame are shown and other changes andmodifications may be made within the scope and spirit of our inventionand without sacrificing its advantages and within the scope of theappended claims.

We claim:

1. In a vehicle of the class described, a front head construction, apair of tubular body elements secured at forward end portions to thehead construction and extending rearwardly and divergingly downwardlytherefrom and at their rear end portions extending forwardly, a framecomprising a plurality of transverse members rigidly welded together andwelded to the said rear end I j head construction, .a pair of tubularbody ele- 'Inents secured at forward end portions to the headconstruction and extending rearwardly and divergingly downwardlytherefrom and at their rear end portions extending forwardly, a framecomprising a plurality of transverse members, disposed substantially ina horizontal plane, rigidly welded together and welded to the said rearend portions of the tubular body elements, and a pair of aligned rearwheel axles extending oppositely from the frame and supported thereby.

3. In a vehicle of the class described, a front head construction, aplurality of elongated body elements secured at forward end portions tothe head construction and extending rearwardly and diverginglydownwardly therefrom and at their rear end portions extending forwardly,a frame comprising a plurality of transverse members .rigidly connectedtogether and rigidly connected plurality of transverse members disposedsubstantially in a horizontal plane rigidly connected together andrigidly connected to the said rear end portions of the elongated bodyelements, and a pair of aligned rear wheel bearings secured to laterallyopposite portions of the frame.

5. In a vehicle of the class described, a head construction having acastering front wheel mounted thereon, a frame comprising a plurality ofbent elements secured at one end to the head construction and extendingrearwardly downwardly therefrom and terminating in forwardly extendingend portions spaced apart laterally, a supplemental frame rigidlyconnected to the forwardly extending end portions and provided withopposite laterally extending aligned rear wheel bearing elements.

6. In a vehicle of the class described, a head construction having acastering front wheel mounted thereon, a frame comprising a plurality ofbent elements secured at one end to the head construction and extendingrearwardly downwardly therefrom and terminating in forwardly extendingend portions spaced apart laterally, a supplemental frame comprising aplurality of transversely extending frame elements rigidly connected tothe forwardly extending end portions and provided with oppositelaterally extending aligned rear Wheel bearing elements.

7. In a vehicle of the class described, a front head construction, anelongated body element secured at its forward end portion to the headconstruction and extending rearwardly and divergingly downwardlytherefrom and at its rear end portion extending forwardly, a framerigidly connected to the said rear end portion of the elongated bodyelement, and a pair of aligned rear Wheel bearing elements extendingoppositely from the frame and supported thereby.

8. In a vehicle of the class described, a head construction having acastering front wheel thereon, a frame secured at one end to the headconstruction and extending rearwardly downwardly therefrom andterminating in forwardly extending end portions spaced apart laterally,a supplemental frame rigidly connected to the forwardly extending endportions and provided with opposite laterally extending aligned rearwheel bearing elements.

